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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| 'A disaster if presidential elections were boycotted', Sfeir warns |
| 2007-08-30 |
| Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir warned of a "disaster" if upcoming presidential elections were boycotted, saying such a move would produce "two presidents, two governments and two Lebanons." "Â…There are those who talk about boycotting the presidential elections. This is something unfair and ruinous for the country," Sfeir told reporters on Tuesday. He stressed that presidential elections should go on in accordance with the constitution, starting with a two-thirds simply majority vote "and then maybe" with half-plus-one of the members of parliament. "But if a half-plus-one (vote) was adopted in the first electoral session, this is very dangerous," Sfeir cautioned. "Because the other camp could claim this to be a violation of the Constitution which would prompt them to respond similarly." "As a result we would get two presidents, two governments, two Lebanons and so on, and this would be ruinous for the country as a whole," Sfeir warned. The Patriarch reiterated that he was against constitutional amendments unless they are introduced to serve national interest, adding that a constitutional amendment in Lebanon takes place at every juncture "and this is bad." |
| Posted by:Fred |